2024 MLB Home Run Derby results: Teoscar Hernández beats Bobby Witt Jr., plus team firsts, low totals and more

Hernández is the first Dodger to win

We have a new Home Run Derby champion as Teoscar Hernández took home the crown for the first time Monday night. The Dodgers star was the last slugger standing out of the eight-hitter field, outlasting Royals cornerstone Bobby Witt Jr. in the finals at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on the eve of the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.

Because of the new format, no Home Run Derby records were set, though Hernández did hit an impressive 49 homers en route to winning the event. Hernández, the seventh Dominican-born player to win the Home Run Derby, edged out Alec Bohm in the semifinals while Witt eliminated José Ramírez to reach the finals.

Here's a look at how the Home Run Derby bracket shook out:

2024 Home Run Derby bracket, results

First Round

1. Alec Bohm: 21
2. José Ramírez: 21
3. Bobby Witt Jr.: 20
4. Teoscar Hernández: 19
5. Adolis García: 18 (eliminated)
6. Marcell Ozuna: 16 (eliminated)
7. Pete Alonso: 12 (eliminated)
8. Gunnar Henderson: 11 (eliminated)

Under the new format, players had three minutes or 40 pitches to swing away in the first round, plus they were given three bonus outs in which they could hit as many homers as possible before making three outs. Players could earn a fourth bonus out with a 425-foot homer in bonus time. The top four home run totals advanced to the semifinals.

Semifinals

• No. 4 Teoscar Hernández (16) over No. 1 Alec Bohm (15) in a swing-off
• No. 3 Bobby Witt Jr. (17) over No. 2 José Ramírez (12) 

The four remaining players were seeding 1-4 based on their first-round home run totals -- the longest first-round homer was used as the tiebreaker, so Bohm (445 feet) got the No. 1 seed over Ramírez (419 feet) -- then met head-to-head in a 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 format. The time limit, pitch limit, and bonus out rules were all the same as the first round.

Finals

• Teoscar Hernández (14) over Bobby Witt Jr. (13)

The final two went head-to-head for the crown. In the finals, Hernández and Witt were given only two minutes and 27 pitches to hit as many homers as possible. The same bonus outs rules as the first round and semifinals applied.

And here now are six takeaways from the event.

1. Hernández is the first Dodger to win the Derby

Hernández needed overtime to reach the Home Run Derby. He and Bohm finished the semifinals tied with 14 homers apiece, sending them to a three-swing swing-off. Hernández advanced with a 2-1 win in the swing-off tiebreaker.

The swing-off was the first since Albert Pujols eliminated Kyle Schwarber in the 2022 first round.

Hernández is the first Dodgers player to win the Home Run Derby, and he was only the second Dodger to reach the finals. Joc Pederson lost to Todd Frazier in Cincinnati in the 2015 Home Run Derby. That was one of the most memorable Home Run Derby finishers ever.

2. Witt went where no Royal has gone before

For the first time ever, a Kansas City Royal reached the Home Run Derby finals. In fact, Witt is the first Royals player to ever make it out of the first round of the Derby. He came within a few feet of tying Hernández in the finals, but his last swing fell just short. Look how close this was:

So close! Witt grew up about a half hour away from Globe Life Field and said he expects to have about 100 friends and family in the stands for the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game. He ultimately fell short, but Witt put on a heck of a show as the final hitter.

3. Alonso exited early

Alonso, seeking his record-tying third Home Run Derby title, was eliminated in the first round Monday night. Not only that, but his 12 home runs were the second fewest of any player. The ESPN cameras caught Bohm playfully saying, "Just what everybody thought" as Alonso wrapped up his round. I'm not sure any player in the game enjoys the Home Run Derby as much as Alonso. I'm guessing we'll see him going for his third title again next year. For now, Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. remains the only three-time Home Run Derby champ.

4. Garcia got knocked out early too

Adolis García, last year's ALCS MVP and star of the hometown Rangers, was also an early exit like Alonso. He was officially eliminated when Ramírez, the third-to-last hitter in the first round, surpassed his total of 18 homers. The last hometown player to win the Home Run Derby was Bryce Harper in 2018, when he was still with the Nationals.

5. Fans in right field got left out in the cold

Not literally, as it was over 100 degrees in Arlington at first pitch, but there were six right-handed hitters in the Home Run Derby, so the vast majority of the homers went out to left field. Here is the Statcast spray chart of all 225 homers:

Left field got worn out during the Home Run Derby. Baseball Savant

Last year, there were seven righties in the Home Run Derby. The year before there was a nice balance with four righties. Should MLB make an effort to even out the playing field? Eh, I don't think it's a huge deal. It's hard enough to get star players to participate in the Home Run Derby. I have to think buying a right field seat to the Derby and then watching most of the homers go to the other side of the ballpark would be a bit of a letdown though.

6. The new format cut down on homers

The new Home Run Derby format has a 40-pitch limit in the first round and semifinals, and a 27-pitch limit in the finals. In a seemingly direct correlation, there were significantly fewer home runs hit this year. All told, the eight players combined for 225 dingers this year. Last year they combined for 341 homers. In 2022, it was 291 homers. No player hit more than 21 homers in a round this year. Last year there were 11 individual rounds with at least 21 homers. The new format took away homers. It's a Home Run Derby! What fun is that?

Also, no head-to-head matchups in the first round made keeping score a tiny little bit confusing, and there's no need for that. The goal was to incentivize everyone to hit as many home runs as possible, though the first round lacked juice. I applaud MLB for being open to new things and trying to improve the Home Run Derby. Not sure the new format is a keeper though. Head-to-head matchups are where it's at. Bring those back in the first round, and perhaps up the pitch limit to 50 or so?

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:54 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Amazing finish to the Derby that was mostly a bore before that. Hopefully everyone stuck around but I suspect we lost a ton of viewers in the first round.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:53 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

OH MY GOSH! It hits the wall!!

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:53 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

This is it. One pitch, one homer to tie it. 

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:53 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Witt with his 12th earned an extra out and hit another. One more!

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:51 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

OK, it's gonna be close. 

Witt goes to his bonus round with 11. Hernández is in the clubhouse with 14. Three homers and three outs ties it. 

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:50 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Can Bobby Witt save us from a dud?

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:49 pm ET · Mike Axisa]

Alright Bobby, you were my pick. Make me look smart.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:46 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

In fact, that 14 is just about where Witt's pace in the first two rounds would put him

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:44 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Teoscar Hernández finishes with 14 home runs. Remember, the clock round this time was only two minutes instead of three, so that's a big number. 

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:33 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Home Run Derby: Final-round leaderboard

Teoscar Hernández (14) vs. Bobby Witt Jr. (13)

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:31 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Neither the Dodgers nor the Royals have ever had a Home Run Derby winner, so that's cool. It's Teoscar for the Dodgers and Bobby Witt for the Royals

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:24 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

I like that this league guy has to explain the rules before every batter because absolutely no one knows what they are

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:23 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Bohm fails to homer so it's a swing off. Here we go!

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:21 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

We are awake!

The building is getting excited. Bohm got tied to Hernandez with one pitch and one second left and sent one into the upper deck, but it was just foul. He now has three outs and needs one homer to walk this round off.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:18 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

"That's not very many," Bohm says. He's not wrong

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:18 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Bohm calls timeout with only three homers and 1:41 left on the clock. We're in the danger zone for this remaining boring. 

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:17 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Bohm has cooled off with the long layoff. Can he heat back up? I'll say yes.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:16 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Should note that it's been almost two hours since Bohm hit during the first round

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:15 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Teoscar with 14 homers means the path isn't too difficult for Alec Bohm and gives us a chance to finally see a walkoff winner. We were deprived of the chance in the first round under this new format. 

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:09 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Teoscar starting slow again

Only three HR at his timeout exactly halfway, 1:30 left. He made the second round due to a late flurry in the first, though.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:05 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Bobby Witt, Teoscar Hernández and Alec Bohm, just like everyone predicted two months ago

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:02 pm ET · Mike Axisa]

Witt is in the finals. He grew up about 20 minutes from the ballpark. That's neat.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 10:00 pm ET · Mike Axisa]

Ramírez looks gassed.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 9:57 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

early timeout for José

He takes it with 1:48 left, well before the halfway point. Does this mean he's tired? He's at four now and needs to get to 17.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 9:54 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Witt finishes with 17

Now can we finally get some drama? 

[Jul 15, 2024 at 9:49 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

Witt with six at his timeout, 1:40 to go. He seems tired, but most picked it up after the timeout in the first round

[Jul 15, 2024 at 9:46 pm ET · Matt Snyder]

BUT! Head to head matchups now can save this thing

[Jul 15, 2024 at 9:43 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

With the first round complete, I am comfortable saying this has been a pretty boring Derby.

[Jul 15, 2024 at 9:42 pm ET · Kate Feldman]

Home Run Derby: Second-round leaderboard

Alec Bohm (15) vs. Teoscar Hernández (16). Hernández advances.

José Ramírez (12) vs. Bobby Witt Jr. (17). Witt advances.